1.02¾HISTORY
OF THE COLLEGE
1904: The Reverend John C. Brewton, pastor of the
First Baptist Church in McRae, Georgia, and C. B. Parker, a member of Brewton’s
congregation and a Telfair County business leader, establish Union Baptist
Institute (UBI) as a private boarding school. The
Daniell and Telfair Baptist Associations support UBI.
1905: UBI opens September 12, with 160 students
and seven teachers. The campus,
built on property at the juxtaposition of Mount Vernon and Ailey in Montgomery
County, consists of an academic hall, two dormitories, and a dining commons. Dr.
Brewton is the first president.
1912: Trustees rename the school Brewton-Parker Institute
(BPI). W. A. Malloy serves as president.
1913: Robert E. Robertson is named president.
1916: Bunyan B. Smith assumes the school’s presidency.
1917: Brewton-Parker earns accreditation from the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
1918: Dr. Brewton returns as BPI’s president.
1919: Linton Stephens Barrett becomes president.
1922: Barrett proposes making BPI a junior college. Albert
Martin Gates succeeds Barrett as president.
1923: BPI adds a college freshman class.
1927: With the addition of a sophomore class, BPI
becomes Brewton-Parker Junior College.
1929: Brewton-Parker discontinues its elementary school.
1941: Gates resigns; he is followed by R. L. Robinson.
1946: C. T. Ricks becomes president.
1948: Brewton-Parker drops all secondary education
from its curriculum. The Georgia
Baptist Convention assumes sole ownership of the college upon the offer
of southeast Georgia’s 21 Baptist associations.
1949: President Ricks resigns; M. P. Campbell succeeds
him.
1953: M. A. Murray assumes the college’s presidency.
1957: Brewton-Parker drops all tactical, vocational,
and terminal classes, becoming an institution devoted to a liberal arts
curriculum. Dr. Theodore (Ted)
Phillips becomes president.
1962: SACS accredits Brewton-Parker as a junior college.
1978: Trustees officially adopt the name Brewton-Parker
College (BPC).
1979: Dr. Starr Miller assumes the presidency upon
Dr. Phillips’s retirement.
1983: Dr. Miller proposes a Bachelor of Ministry degree
program. Dr. Y. Lynn Holmes becomes
president.
1984: SACS grants BPC candidacy status for the baccalaureate
degree program.
1985: BPC graduates first senior class of 22 students.
1986: SACS recognizes BPC as a four-year institution
December 9.
1997: Dr. Holmes resigns; Dr. Miller returns as interim
president.
1998: Trustees confirm Dr. David R. Smith as BPC’s
fourteenth president.